


The Offering

by lisachan



Series: Leoverse [231]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:48:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lisachan/pseuds/lisachan
Summary: Cody has been raised to become a ritual offering, to be sacrificed during theCapacocha. Except on the day he's supposed to die, the new emperor, to honor whom he's supposed to be sacrificed, does not agree with that.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Leoverse [231]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/30541
Kudos: 1
Collections: COWT - Clash Of the Writing Titans/Chronicles Of Words and Trials





	The Offering

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:** This story is an **AU** from the original 'verse. What happens in here has little to none correlation with what happens in Leonard Karofsky-Hummel VS The world or Broken Heart Syndrome. The characters involved are (mostly) the same, but situations and relationships between them may be completely different.  
> In this specific instance of the universe, set in the Incan Empure around 1520, Blaine is the new emperor of Cusco, Leo is his Head of the Guards and Cody is a boy who's supposed to be sacrificed during the party for Blaine's ascension. Except not.  
> Written for this week's COWT #10 M2, prompt: _Incan folklore_.

Tradition says the chosen children must be the most beautiful, the most perfect. They must possess charm and wit, be elegant and well-mannered, brave and wise beyond their years. They must be taken from their families at least two years before their sacrifice and they must be taught how to behave, what to say, how to perfectly prepare for the most important moment of their life. They must have knowledge of it, and it does not matter that all that knowledge is going to drip away with their blood the moment they receive the knife in their heart to celebrate the emperor during the _Capacocha_. The day of the ritual they will be bathed and perfumed, they will be dressed in the most beautiful clothes and they will wear the most beautiful and precious jewelry. Then, they will be transported in triumph to the emperor’s palace, where they will take part to a celebration in their honor. They will feast and they will dance and they will be admired and adored. They will drink the nectar of the Gods, and that nectar will hold the secret to their painless death, as it will contain a potion that will put them in an exalted, exhilarated state, so that when, later on, they will be taken by the priest to the top of the mountain, strangled until they lose their consciousness, cut open with the ritual knife and then left there to be taken by the gods, they won’t even notice.

Cody has lived with the knowledge of his impending death for the last three years. He was taken away from his parents, separated from his twin brother on a calm summer night. They were playing in the garden, he remembers, and the priest came by, accompanied by the militia. They had taken him away and his parents had cried silently, holding Casey back. He still remembers the way his brother kept shrieking as he was carried away enveloped in a thick _tocapu_ embroidered with golden angular shapes. He screamed as though he was losing a limb – while Cody was too terrified to even speak.

He has been living in the temple since then. The priests have taken good care of him. They have fed him well and often, more than he remembers ever having eaten back home. They have given him fresh clothes to wear, some of them extremely precious, especially during the purification rituals. They have bathed him often and thoroughly, making sure he was dry and warm after every bath. Cody has never known a day of illness. He has never known a day of suffering.

But, at the same time, his life has always revolved around the idea that, at some point, sooner rather than later, it would have ended in a sacrifice. It would have ended in blood.

He knows the reason for it – the priests have told him everything about it. They have explained at great lengths about the importance of his death, how his blood sacrifice will nourish the earth, stop the winter from decimating their population, please the Gods and make so that they can live in prosperity and the new Emperor will be graced by the Gods’ favor for the rest of his reign.

Cody is proud of his role. He takes it very seriously. He has memorized all the words of the ritual. He has memorized the words he will use to present himself to the Emperor, the words he will have to use to offer his life to the Gods. He has memorized the dance he will have to perform before his last banquet and he has prepared himself for his death.

He has had years to do so, and he has used them all.

So when his time comes – when the priests come wake him up and tell him to prepare for his final trip, he’s already ready. He can go. Leave this all behind. Make sure his people can be happy once again, thanks to him.

He steps into the Great Hall of the temple and he climbs down the short steps to the pool. There are flowers floating on the surface of the water, which is cool and smells like spring. He kneels down at the bottom of it and the priests come inside with him, their perfectly white robes turning translucent as they bathe him carefully.

Then they help him out there and they dry him up. They wrap him up in precious multi-colored robes, they put earrings, bracelets and necklaces on him, a golden chain around his head and another one, thicker, decorated with brilliant stones, around his hips.

They invite him to sit on a pillow encased in a golden litter and they hoist it up their shoulders. On that litter, they carry him to the palace, and all through the trip Cody does nothing but stare at the night sky, pierced with bright stars. He imagines himself among them, in the _Hanan Pacha_ , where the priests have told him he’s going to go after his death, contrary to all other men, who will end up in _Urin Pacha_ , the land underneath.

He’s happy he’s going to spend the rest of his eternal life flying above the earth. That way, he hopes he will be able to see his brother again, watch over him, keep him safe.

The litter suddenly comes to a halt, and as he looks back down he sees that they are just in front of the palace. The building, all in strong stone and pointing upwards, stands in perfect silence, apparently eternal. Two soldiers are guarding the entrance, spears in hand, the dim light of the fire turning their honey-colored skin a golden shade of white.

The priests put him down and he climbs off the litter, standing on his feet. He starts moving, jingling with all his jewelry. He steps past the entrance and walks through the dark corridors, led by a priest and followed by all the others.

The throne room is decorated with garlands of flowers and rich _tocapu_ hanging from every walls. There are torches dancing in every corners and the huge tables are already set to welcome all the priests, the guests, the Emperor’s people and the Emperor himself.

Cody has never seen him before, and he finds him beautiful. He’s strong and powerful, in his prime, his golden eyes are filled with a light that dances but never flickers, livelier than the fire. He’s wearing rich clothes and, on top of his bare chest, there’s a thick golden necklace embellished with dark red stones that look like freshly cut wounds.

The moment he walks into the room, the Emperor stands up and the music of the drums stops. Everybody holds their breath, including Cody. He’s supposed to be dancing, but this is now how it’s supposed to happen. The Emperor should be seated. There should be music. He should be the only one standing. He can’t begin if the Emperor doesn’t get back on his heavy golden throne.

“Who are you?” the Emperor says. His wild black curls are only barely held back by his headpiece. His voice is dark and vibrant and he sounds as though he wasn’t expecting him to be as he is.

All around them, the whole court falls to silence. The Emperor was not supposed to ask that question. He was not supposed to ask anything.

“I…” Cody answers with a trembling voice, “I am the sacrifice, my Emperor.”

The Emperor doesn’t seem satisfied with his answer. He frowns deeply and he clutches his fists down his sides. “Not for as long as I sit upon this throne,” he says. “Free him of that jewelry. Take those robes off him. Lead him to my private apartments and leave him there for me to find him after the feast.”

The entire hall drowns in a gasping sound, and right after that everybody start murmuring worriedly. What is the Emperor doing? Has he lost his wits? Is he challenging the Gods? Does he want to damn his people forever?

“My Emperor,” a boy dares to speak. He’s standing on the left of the Emperor and he looks like a younger, less experienced, less scarred version of him. He’s got eyes of the darkest blue that pierce the very core of Cody’s soul when, for a moment, he turns to scornfully look at him. “He is the sacrifice that the priests have prepared to turn the Gods in your favor. Do you want to anger the Gods? Do you want to provoke their wrath?”

The Emperor turns to look at him, his eyes glistening dangerously. “For as long as I am sitting on this throne, I am God on Earth. Do _you_ want to provoke my wrath?”

Surprised and scared by his words, the boy holds his breath and then lowers his eyes. “No, my Emperor,” he says, and then turns towards the guards: “Do what your Emperor ordered you to do. Bring him to his rooms.”

Breathless, shocked, confused and scared, Cody watches the guards as they pull him away from the priests and lead him down yet another dark corridor, to a part of the palace he has never seen. His heart is beating hard enough to make his chest hurt and his blood pulse in his temples.

They leave him alone in a wide bedroom a few minutes after. There is a stone bed covered with a soft decorated cloth that drapes down to the floor. The furniture is scarce but necessary, and everything is tidy, clean and decorated in golden leaves. There are small torches burning all around the place, making the room both warmly lit and comfortable. Cody starts feeling tired, and that bed is tempting.

He takes a step towards it, but that’s when a voice stops him.

“If I had known they would have sacrificed someone like you on the day of my coronation, I would have never become an Emperor,” the Emperor says.

Cody holds his breath and slowly turns to look at him. His heart reprises beating painfully as the room fills with the spicy scent of the man.

“My Emperor--”

“Call me Blaine,” the man says, taking a step towards him. And then another. And then another, until he’s everything Cody can see. “Or, better yet… don’t call me at all,” he adds in a soft voice, leaning in to press a soft kiss on his lips.

Cody swallows and he swallows down his taste, too. Bitter and sweet, like the idea of dying for everyone else’s well-being. But infinitely more pleasant.

“Your chief of the guards...” he tries weakly, “He seemed upset.”

The Emperor smiles softly, gently touching his wrists and then wrapping his hands around them. “Don’t think about that, now,” he says. And then: “Disrobe.”

Cody swallows and, shaking like a leaf, obeys.


End file.
